We’ve spent another few weekends in Riverside, which means we found another new (very literally) restaurant to try. Pele’s Wood Fire opened its doors just before the new year, though they were known to the public previously as a catering company and Riverside Arts Market vendor. I was invited to a media dinner around that time, and proceeded to visit twice more on my own to see if they were really cookin’ with grease–or super, super hot ovens, as it were. I was also intrigued by the curiously low ratings on public review forums. I wanted to see if my media food was a fluke (possible), or if other diners’ expectations were just wildly off. Repeated negative-sounding declarations of “This is foodie pizza” (what does that even mean?) had me leaning toward the latter.

Pele's Logo

Margherita ingredients at the ready

Pele’s pizzaiolo makes certified Neapolitan pizzas, which is kind of a big deal when you consider that the certification requires special flour, bufala mozzarella, San Gennaro tomatoes from Italy, and wood fired pizzas cooked in a 1400 degree oven–which means they’re done in only 90 seconds.

My first visit for the media dinner was a fantastic 7-course feast; I practically waddled out afterward. And of course, the battery on my camera died after the second course You can, however, see some great photos and reviews on some other local blogs. We started with some wood oven-baked bread, and you could really taste the smokiness in it. The two dishes I did get shots of were the seafood platter and Limoncello wings (also fired in the ovens):
Read the rest of this entry »

Ok, Jacksonville, it’s been a month. I can handle your blazing hot summer temps because of the coastal breeze, and I love being able to go sit on the beach pretty much whenever I want. However, the sprawl here is headache-inducing and gas-guzzling (it’s the largest city by landmass in the U.S.), which makes it tougher to find locally-owned restaurants, especially in my area–near a large mall. But happily, I’m 4 for 4 on identifying pretty good ones. This ain’t Atlanta fine dining, but I’m optimistic about the [smaller] food scene here. P.S. Expect me to compare Jax to ATL for the next 6-8 months. Sorry.

The first restaurant I visited while Mario was still in town helping me move in was Picasso’s Pizzeria in Southside. I’ve spoken before about my aversion to strip mall eateries, but it seems I’ll have to get over it in my new residence, as many restaurants seem to be located in them. I feel like Picasso’s name is a bit of a misnomer–while about half of the menu is occupied by pizza options, the other half contains a wide variety of dishes: from shrimp & grits to shepard’s pie to oysters Rockerfeller. Often such a menu inspires wariness (“Never order a burger from a taco stand!”), but we have been pleasantly surprised by everything we’ve tasted. Oh, and there’s a burger. One that rivals the best in Atlanta. But I’ll get to that later. On our first visit, I decided to try the shrimp & grits (Mayport shrimp sautéed with applewood-smoked bacon cubes, fresh tomato, shallots, and garlic), while Mario went with their signature steak (“Da” Steak: seared premium aged Black Angus rib-eye with fries and Mama Sauce).

Shrimp & Grits

"Da" Steak

All pizzas are not created equal — and that’s a good thing. Anyone who has ever ordered pizza for a group has undoubtedly had to coordinate compromise on all sides. Thick or thin crust? All the toppings, or just cheese? The recent explosion in Atlanta’s pizza-slinging population ensures one of these eateries will have something to suit your taste.

Antico Pizza Napoletana: The reigning champ of the Atlanta “pizza wars,” Antico Pizza Napoletana is a true taste of Italy. Ingredients such as San Marzano tomatoes and Mozzarella di Bufala are imported from the European archipelago and made into pizza perfection by Maestro Pizzaiolo Giovanni Di Palma.

Read the rest here

Image jasoneppink, flickr

The day I left Atlanta was a hectic one, as I had to finish packing and wrap things up in the lab. Luckily, I had a temporary respite in the form of a media luncheon at Lobby Bar and Bistro in Atlantic Station, hosted by the Concentrics Restaurants. I convinced one of my girls’ breakfast buddies to be my +1 and we headed over to Lobby, housed on the ground floor of TWELVE.

The purpose of the lunch was to introduce–or rather, reintroduce–new-old executive chef Nick Oltarsh. Oltarsh opened Lobby Bar and Bistro in 2005 and after a stint at Murphy’s in Virginia Highland, he has returned to Lobby. The menu contained a number of “New South” favorites on which I was excited to see Chef Oltarsh’s take, such as shrimp & grits and chicken & waffles. We started out with a variety of appetizers–chicken & waffles, seared tuna, pizzas, and gumbo–and this course included some of the favorites for the day:

Gumbo

Veggie Pizza

Read the rest of this entry »

Phew, finals are over, and I finally have a guilt-free chance to catch up on blogging. First up, I’ve been able to visit the newest tenant in the Sweet Auburn Curb Market, The Greek, twice now. My first visit was for The Greek’s Grand Opening, when they were giving out free slices of pizza:

The Greek

Free Slice

I thought the pizza was only so-so–decent toppings and slightly dry crust–and also wasn’t too pleased that the owner referred to folks who stopped by for the free pizza he was advertising as “freeloaders” later on his facebook/twitter (come on guy, what did you expect? I did buy a piece of baklava though). Otherwise though, the owner is really friendly and was chatting up customers both on this first visit and when I returned about a week later to try a gyro:
Read the rest of this entry »

After stuffing ourselves on the usual Christmas feast of gumbo, turkey, ham, and more starchy sides than I care to mention, my brother Vincent and I decided to go check out a new pizzeria near our house, Oscar’s Ice Cream & Pizza Joint.

Oscar's Ice Cream & Pizza Joint

Oscar’s is occupying two suites of what used to be Heads ‘n’ Tails Seafood on Perkins Rd, one suite housing the ice cream shop, and the other the main restaurant. When Vincent and I stopped in for lunch, the small main dining room was not full, but had two or 3 larger parties dining in, a pretty good sign for a holiday afternoon. Oscar’s has a number of really interesting pizza combinations, and we decided to split a 12″ D&A Gumbo (Smoked duck, alligator sausage, andouille sausage & green onion on a roux based tomato gravy):
Read the rest of this entry »

I’m finally jumping on the Antico Pizza Napoletana bandwagon, though at this point it probably wouldn’t matter what I say since the ATL blogger community has already fallen head-over-heels for the place. With that said, 1) the pizza is as good as everyone says, and 2) I hope to approach this post from a slightly different angle–customer service. I’ve been the recipient of some bad restaurant service lately, and Antico is unfortunately on that list, but they did work quickly to rectify the situation.

Antico is located in the Home Park neighborhood near Georgia Tech. They have recently expanded their hours to include lunch and close “when the dough runs out” (my guess is somewhere around 9pm). Initially intended to be take-out only, they have also recently added a community dine-in table to allow customers to enjoy their pies on the spot. I think this was change was mainly blogger-fueled, since ATLiens are getting to be very picky about their crusts with the onset of the “ATL Pizza Wars” (Google that for some interesting commentary) and it tends to get soggy when carried home. I visited one Saturday evening to take my pizza to go since I live nearby and hoped it wouldn’t be soggy by the time I got home. I ordered the Capricciosa (mushroom, artichoke, prosciutto cotto, bufala) and a cannoli:

Capricciosa

Dessert Counter

And now for my customer service angle:
Read the rest of this entry »

As part of my new self-imposed grad student budget constraints, I’m trying to find some good cheap eats around Atlanta (suggestions welcome!). Mario and I had both heard good things about Mama Niki’s Pizza, located in the Howell Mill Kroger Plaza, so we decided to stop in on Saturday afternoon.

A banner outside boasted of being voted “Atlanta’s Best Pizza”, though the source of that vote wasn’t mentioned on the banner. Inside, Mama Niki’s looks like your typical diner. A whiteboard with specials advertises $1 pitchers on Tuesdays–obviously a college hangout. But, on to the pizza. Mario and I both got a slice of pepperoni:

Pepperoni Pizza

Read the rest of this entry »

I finally got a chance to try longtime Baton Rouge favorite Fleur de Lis Pizza just before leaving for Atlanta. Fleur de Lis is a cocktail lounge/pizzeria that has been around Baton Rouge for a long time–which is quite apparent by the state of the building and its decor (or lack therof).

Fleur de Lis

The place could probably be certified as a “dive”–cash only, basically a barroom inside, but a thriving business nonetheless. But something has to keep them on top of Baton Rouge’s best pizza list, so I wanted to find out what it was.
Read the rest of this entry »

I was excited to try another of “Baton Rouge’s best” last week but was disappointed that the pizza place turned out to be cash only.  Hungry and still craving pizza, Spencer suggested a new-ish place right outside the mall, BJ’s Brewhouse.

BJ's Brewhouse

To me, BJ’s is just another casual dining restaurant, with a menu about half the size of Cheesecake Factory’s (which is still massive).  They supposedly brew their own beer on site, which accounts for the special yeast bread used in their most popular menu items–deep dish pizzas.  Spencer has been raving about the pizza here for months, so I decided to give it a try.

Read the rest of this entry »